jackson



Jan. 24, 1956 w. J. JACKSON BUBBLE CAP Filed Feb. 10, 1954 Fig./

lillf W/IVSTO/V J. JACKSON INVENTOR. BY 9M1 V AT TOR/V5 Y5 United States Patent BUBBLE CAP Winston J. Jackson, Kingsport, Tenn., assignor to Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application February 10, 1954, Serial No. 409,441

1 Claim. (Cl. 261-114) This invention relates to bubble caps for use in fractionating and rectifying columns, scrubbers and other similar apparatus wherein it is desired to effect intimate liquid gas contact, and more particularly to a bubble cap assembly which is readily removable and replaceable on the tray of the bubble cap tower.

Because of the great demand and varied use of bubble caps by the chemical and refining industries, many different types have been developed including the very complex cast and/ or machined units and the relatively simple stamped or die pressed units. These units, besides being ditficult to install and often expensive to manufacture require frequent replacement because of the corrosive action of the liquids and gases passing through them. Therefore, the industries sought to design a ceramic cap which could resist corrosion and would require only a short installation time. However, these caps have proven to be unsatisfactory because of the difliculty encountered in forming the slotted portion of the skirt. It proved to be impractical to slot the ceramic material.

My invention hereinafter fully described avoids the numerous disadvantages of the prior art bubble caps and comprises a one-piece ceramic or glass cup and riser integrally molded thereto, a corrosion resistant metal slot ring positionable around the riser under the cup, and readily releasable means for holding the assembly on the apertured tray of the bubble cap tower.

The primary object of the present invention is therefore to provide a bubble cap assembly which is readily removable and replaceable on the tray of the bubble cap tower.

Another object is to provide a bubble cap assembly which is inexpensive to manufacture and less susceptible to corrosion than the existing prior art assemblies.

Other objects and advantages will appear to those skilled in the art from the following description with reference to the drawing wherein like characters denote like parts and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a bubble cap assembly illustrating my invention taken along line 1--1 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 2 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of the bubble cap assembly taken along line 22 of Fig. 1.

According to the present invention, a circular cup 11 having a generally convex upper surface 12 and a generally concave under surface 13 is molded from glass or other suitable ceramic material. A riser 14 concentrically positioned with respect to cup 11, and having a generally cylindrical shape, is also molded from glass or other ceramic material. In carrying out my invention the riser 14 and cup 11 may be formed together in the mold as a single unit; however, I prefer to form each one separately and then weld them together by a fusion weld or other well-known means to thus obtain a unitary or integral unit.

The edge 15 of cup 11 is formed with a depending annular flange 16 which forms one side of inner peripheral 2,732,194 Patented Jan. 24, 1956 recess 17. Recess 17 is concentrically positioned with respect to both the longitudinal axis of cup 11 and to riser 14. Recess 17 receives one end of ring 18 which has a generally cylindrical shape and is provided with a series of radial slots 19 around its periphery. Ring 18 is made of a non-corrosive metal such as, for example, stainless steel or copper. The other end of ring 18 rests on the upper surface of tray 20 in the bubble cap column (not shown). The tray 20 is provided with an aperture 21 which has a diameter slightly larger than the outside diameter of riser 14, for receiving the basal portion 22 of riser 14 which extends therethrough. Thus it is apparent that ring 18 supports cup 11 and riser 14 on the tray 20.

A pair of relatively large ports 23 in the riser 14 adjacent under surface 13 of cup 11 provide communication between passage 24 of the riser and the space 25 under cup 11. The gas passing through the assembly enters passage 24, circulates through ports 23 into space 25 and flows out through slots 19 in ring 18.

The basal portion 22 of riser 14 is provided with two substantially diametrically opposed openings 26 and 27 which receive a wedge 28 made of a non-corrosive metal such as, for example, stainless steel or copper. The upper walls of openings 26 and 27 are aligned in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of riser 14, and are spaced from the end of riser 14 such that in normal assembled position they lie slightly above the under side of tray 20. The bottom wall is closer to the upper wall in opening 27 than in opening 26 in order to engage the wedge substantially at the same time as the bottom wall of opening 26. It is obvious therefore that with wedge 28 engaging the under side of tray 20 on opposite sides of riser 14 and also engaging the bottom wall of opening 26 and of opening 27, the bubble cap assembly is securely, but readily releasably held on tray 20 around aperture 21.

Other modifications will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and therefore the present disclosure is illustrative only and the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claim.

Having now particularly described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States and what I claim is:

A bubble cap assembly for mounting on a tray provided with an aperture comprising a ceramic cup and a generally cylindrical ceramic riser integrally formed thereto, said riser being concentric to said cup and depending therefrom through said aperture and in spaced relation to said aperture, said riser having radially extending port means therein adjacent said cup providing communication therebetween, said cup having an inner peripheral recess formed in an edge thereof concentric with and radially outwardly spaced from said riser, a generally cylindrical ring having two opposed ends, said ring having vertically elongated radial slots around the periphery thereof between said ends, one said end being received in said recess, the other said end resting on said tray to support said cup in spaced relation from said tray, said riser having a pair of opposed apertures in the cylindrical portion thereof underlying said tray, and wedge means passing through said opposed apertures and engaging said tray on the under side thereof to releasably hold said assembly on said tray.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,070,067 Rice Feb. 9, 1937 2,398,953 OBrien Apr. 23, 1946 OTHER REFERENCES Ser. No. 360,260, Giehne et al. (A. P. 0.), published May 25, 1943. 

